Harmony political party’s prime minister candidate Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis would be ready to take the reins of a minority coalition if need be. He also added in an interview to Latvijas Radio 8 October that Harmony won 13th Saeima elections and it is only fair, he said, that President Raimonds Vējonis should offer the role of forming the next government to the party that won.

«It is morally unacceptable for me to find red lines drawn against people who decided to support a different party. We should think about uniting people, not dividing them on the eve of Latvia’s centenary,» said Dombrovskis.

He believes it is not possible to form the government without Harmony, and drawing red lines for the formation of new government is a dead end. He also mentioned that he would be prepared to lead a minority government. «With a minority government, I would put all effort into making sure it is not a minority government,» he added.

Harmony leader Nils Ušakovs was of a similar mind in his interview to Rīta Panorāma programme. He said he doubts it is possible to form a new government without Harmony. «I allow that no new government will have been formed without Harmonyby the start of the next year. I hope people will come around by then,» added Ušakovs.

As previously reported, although in official comments politicians remain cautious, they do admit unofficially that there are multiple possible coalition models.

In unofficial talks with LETA, politicians mentioned that there are multiple coalition formation models possible with the six parties that have made it to the parliament. It is also possible there may be models in which some of those parties may be excluded from the coalition.

There are no plans to form a coalition with Harmony, however. With that, discussions will be held with the New Conservative Party, KPV LV, National Alliance, Attīstībai/Par, Union of Greens and Farmers and New Unity.

Most politicians have already contacted and discussed with one another election results. Serious coalition formation talks will commence next week. Politicians refrain from giving any predictions in regards to the next coalition.

One possibility is that KPV LV and NCP may attempt to form a coalition without UGF. It is unknown, however, if KPV LV and NCP would both agree to such a scenario, however. It is likely, however, that the latter may benefit from this the most.

It is also possible more liberal parties will try concentrating on forming mutual cooperation among themselves. This may apply to communication between Attīstībai/Par! and New Unity. It is also worth mentioning in this context a scenario in two parties could form the core of the coalition by also including the National Alliance and IGF and either KPV LV or NCP.

According to the latest results, Harmony will receive 23 seats in the 13th Saeima, KPV LV and NCP will receive 16 each, Attīstībai/Par and the National Alliance will get 13 each, Union of Greens and Farmers will get 11 and New Unity will get 8 seats.

72.8 thousand people were unemployed in 2018. Compared to 2017, number of unemployed persons dropped by 12.6 thousand or 14.8 %. Last year, Latvian unemployment rate constituted 7.4 %, which is 1.3 percentage points lower than in 2017.

British investor and activist against Russia-related money laundering, Bill Browder, has voiced plans to submit a criminal complaint against Swedbank to Swedish authorities over its involvement in alleged money laundering transactions in the Baltics.

German law enforcement institutions have finished investigating the ‘Russian Laundromat’ case. Latvian Economic Crime Enforcement Department assisted their German colleagues with the investigation, as reported by Latvian State Police.

On Thursday, 21 February, Latvian firefighters were called in to deal with the first grass fires this year. This first such fire this year was put out in Ugāle, where last year’s grass was burning on an area close to half a hectare.

London seemed to soften its stance in Brexit negotiations with the European Union from fruitless attempts to re-open the withdrawal agreement to securing new guarantees to reassure eurosceptic members of the British parliament over the time frame of the temporary Northern Ireland border rules.

Spanish train manufacturer Talgo has appealed the decision made by Latvian Procurement Monitoring Bureau on re-assessment of results of the procurement of electric trains, saying that PMB has made big mistakes and wrong conclusions, which resulted in an illegal decision, Talgo representatives say.

Large rallies have been held in Slovakia on the first anniversary of the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee that brought down the country's government, but still has not been solved.

The centre of an anticyclone is currently above Scandinavia. This anticyclone will start gradually moving south-west on Friday, 22 February. It will also dictate weather in Latvia – the sky will become clear but air will remain chilly, promises Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre.

In an unprecedented move yet, Lithuania’s law enforcers busted this week what it may be an organised, yet impenetrable until now ring of the country’s some A-tier judges and lawyers. Some of the big names have deliberated high-profile legal cases implicating some of Lithuania’s most heinous criminal gangs.

Saeima has supported Foreign Affairs Committee’s legislative draft intended to ensure better legislative cooperation and protection of people’s rights during the transition period after the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, as confirmed by the parliament’s press-service.

When travelling abroad, Latvian residents are afraid the most of ending up in a traffic accident (56%), fall ill (54%) or become injured (53%), according to results of a study performed by If Insurance.

Compared to December 2018, the level of producer prices in Latvian industry rose by 0.1 % in January 2019. Prices of products sold on the domestic market grew by 0.4 %, but prices of exported products reduced by 0.2 %.

On Thursday, 21 February, the Saeima supported in the second reading amendments to the Law on the Handling of Tobacco Products. These changes state stores will no longer be allowed showcase tobacco products on shelves. Instead tobacco products will be sold using price lists, as reported by Saeima’s press-service.

«We only want what was promised to us before elections,» said Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees chairperson Inga Vanaga in an interview to LTV on Thursday, 21 February, commenting the talks held with government representatives the previous day.

Following three British MPs leaving the ruling Conservative Party amid Brexit impasse, British head of government held more talks with the European Union that were constructive according to both Pirme Minister Theresea May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

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